BP's containment cap over its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well collected 6,000 barrels of oil over a 24-hour period, signalling progress in efforts to control the leak, the U.S. national oil spill response commander said on Saturday.
Asked whether the welltop containment device was working, U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told a briefing: "Yes — with caveats".
"In the first full 24-hour cycle yesterday … they were able to bring up … 6,000 barrels of oil from the well," Allen said, speaking in Theodore, Alabama
Taking a higher level estimate made by the government of 19,000 barrels (800,000 gallons/3 million litres) per day leaking from the well, the 6,000 barrels captured on Friday would represent nearly a third.
"They started at a low rate and went to a higher rate," Allen added, although he avoided giving a percentage of how much of the escaping oil was being captured.
"On June 4, a total of 6,077 barrels of oil was collected. Improvement in oil collection is expected over the next several days," BP Plc said in a Tweet feed.
Allen said BP hoped to increase the amount being collected in the next few days by closing vents in the containment cap as engineers managed to stabilize pressure in the well.
